Into the Abyss
by Reba Jean
Summary: Something unexpected occurs when Chibi-Usa travels from Crystal Tokyo to the past. Drabble/ficlet series continuation of Falling from the Sky.
1. Chapter 1

~ 1 ~

ChibiUsa fell through darkness into a twisted glowing blue which pulsed around her. Her fall could have lasted an instant or stretched forever; her time sense was completely confused. She landed with a thump on the dry bottom of what appeared to be the old well. "Ouch," she grumbled, rubbing her sore posterior.

She looked up; blue sky lit the circle overhead. The old shed was gone; very strange. Even more interesting was the collection of twining vines, reinforced with cord and rope that dangled just above her head.

She might not know where she had ended up, but at least there was a way out of this hole in the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

~ 2 ~

Painfully, slowly, Chibi-Usa pulled herself out of the old well. She emerged in the middle of a forest glade, sunlight streaming through the gaps in the trees. The shrine complex was gone, except for a tori gate at the edge of the hill with steps descending. She peered at the scene below, a backward rural village surrounded by fields. "Still not Tokyo!" she huffed and sat down on the step with a thump. She stared glumly around and caught a flash of red heading her way.

Awakened from his doze in the tree branches by a surge of magic from the old well, the boy dropped to the forest floor and ran toward the well. "Oi Bitch, what you doing back so soon?" he shouted.

Seeing the small pink haired figure seated on the steps, he stopped and drew his katana. The sword remained a rusty wreck, stubbornly refusing to transform. "What the hell?" he muttered. Glaring at the girl, he growled, "And who the hell are you?"


	3. Chapter 3

~ 3 ~

Stating the obvious, "You're not Kagome. How did you get through the well?" Inuyasha sniffed and swiveled his ears. The girl seemed harmless; but then Kanna looked like a little girl.

"Whoever Kagome is; I'm not her," Chibi-Usa replied. The boy seemed less hostile now that he had put away his sword. But he had "ears" and since he came closer, she saw his fingers had claws. "Who are you? Are you a youma?" she wondered out loud.

"Keh, if I were a youkai or oni, you'd be dinner by now," he huffed. Girl was clueless, just like Kagome, and wasn't that outfit kind of like the ones Kagome wore. "You from the future?" he asked.

Chibi-Usa sighed, looking around the scenery from a historical movie. "I guess you could say that."


	4. Chapter 4

~ 4 ~

"Well you're not a youkai, at least you don't smell like one. And I'm not a youma, whatever that is. Some kind of oni?" he wondered.

"They attack people in Tokyo. We fight them," she replied shortly, irritated.

They were just wasting time. She needed to get back home. Chibi-Usa got up and started pacing up and down. She'd just have to try it. The girl ran toward the well and jumped in.

Inuyasha peered over the side. The girl was standing at the bottom of the well. She stomped her foot in frustration and then started climbing up the side. He offered her a hand up.

"Tell ya what kid, why don't you come with me to the village. Maybe Kaede or Kagome can figure something out." He turned and started down the hill.

Chibi-Usa shrugged. She didn't have any better ideas. She followed Inuyasha reluctantly down the hill. Here she was stranded in yet another strange place.


	5. Chapter 5

~ 5 ~

"I see child, you come from the future like our Kagome here," the old woman commented as she handed Chibi-Usa another bowl of stew.

Kagome remained silent, her expression pensive. She stood and moved over to the fire, refilling all the tea cups. As she handed them out, she considered her reply. "I don't think she's from the future . . ."

Inuyasha scoffed, "What do you mean? She ain't from around here."

Kagome glared at the hanyou, "Let me finish what I was saying."

Inuyasha crossed his arms and muttered "Keh."

"I don't think Chibi-Usa is from the SAME future as I come from. The story she told about Sailor Moon and the senshi fighting youmas, about her time travels back and forth from Crystal Tokyo is a story where I come from. A story told in a manga and that was made into an anime on TV," Kagome finished.

Chibi-Usa gasped, "What!"


	6. Chapter 6

~6~

"Oh dear, so ye cannot take her home with you the next time you go?" Kaede commented, asking the question on all their minds.

Miroku, who had been silently listening along with Sango, spoke up, "This would seem to be a different magic than Kagome uses to traverse the portal in the well."

Sango added, "Who might know about such things? Do you know of any sages or scholars you could ask, Miroku?"

A noisy crowd soon interrupted the serious discussion. Rin entered, herding the slayer and monk's children before her. "They're too hungry to play any longer." She added, "Who's this? I am Rin. I haven't seen you visit before."

As Rin heard Chibi-Usa's story, she smiled brightly. "I know. We can ask Lord Sesshoumaru to help."

Inuyasha growled, "Hell no. I ain't asking that bastard for anything."

Kagome glared. "Language. There are children here. Don't make me say it." The hanyou's ears flattened and he flinched.

Kaede spoke, defusing the tension. "Perhaps the Sorceress of the Winds beyond the Northern Pass in the mountains might know something."

"Ah shit no! We ain't gonna ask that bitch Kagura anything either," Inuyasha snarled, his arms crossed, angry glare sweeping the room.

"Sit." Thunk. He dropped to the floor. "I warned you Inuyasha," Kagome added in a falsely sweet tone, a smile hidden behind her hand.


	7. Chapter 7

~7~

"Now wait a minute," Chibi-Usa protested. What was with these strange people thinking they could decide her fate. "I don't want to go tramping around some weird feudal version of Japan."

From the floor, Inuyasha muttered. "Ya already tried jumping back in the well and didn't go anywhere."

Chibi-Usa reluctantly agreed with their plan and the small group set off in the morning. Inuyasha commented to Miroku, "They got us outnumbered."

"What?" Miroku questioned, awakening from his walking trance.

"Girls," Inuyasha pointed ahead where the three walked, giggling over something he couldn't quite make out.

"So where exactly are we headed? Toward Fugi-san?" Chibi-Usa asked.

"No, I don't think so," Sango answered. "From what Kaede remembers this sorceress is in the mountains more directly west. Several days journey that way," she waved her arm.

Chibi-Usa picked at the fabric of the clothing they had given her. The heavy travel kimono ended slightly above her ankles, the floral pattern matched her hair color. Luckily she was wearing sturdy, comfortable walking shoes. It looked like she would have no trouble staying in shape on this adventure.


	8. Chapter 8

~8~

The group started down the hill following the narrow forest trail. The path widened and the vegetation thinned as they descended toward the valley floor. Chibi-Usa noticed the sudden silence. Inuyasha stopped, his ears flicking and nose twitching. He drew Tessaiga. "Something's coming."

The group readied for battle quickly and quietly. Kagome knocked an arrow and stood at ready. Kirara transformed; Sango mounted with Hiratkotsu. "They're on the hill across the valley. It sounds like a mounted charge. Monk, guard the girl," Inuyasha directed.

"What should I do?" Chibi-Usa called out.

"Just try to stay out of the way," he growled, attention on the thundering sound approaching.

Chibi-Usa squinted at the moving brush. It looked like a bunch of gorillas, no, a bunch of four-armed giant monkeys mounted on rhinoceroses. There must be dozens of them. What kind of crazy place was this?


	9. Chapter 9

~9~

The battle was quickly upon them. Sango took to the air on Kirara and let fly Hiraikotsu. Kagome loosed her arrows, pink purification blasts disintegrating both riders and mounts. Inuyasha used Tessaiga Kaze no Kizu and took out half the attacking company. The hoard was decimated with perhaps half a dozen remaining.

Miroku whirled toward a crashing among the trees. Three more of the enemy burst out onto the path behind them. Chibi-Usa could wait no longer. There was no way a monk with a staff could take on three mounted warriors equipped with spears and swords. As if to punctuate her thought, a spear flashed by as she twirled, a narrow miss.

"Moon Prism Power Make up!" Chibi-Usa yelled her transformation. She pointed her rod at the nearest creature, "Pink Sugar Heart Attack!"

The stream of pink hearts flew toward the monkey who had slowed his mount to advance at a walk. He laughed. The laugh became a squeal when the hearts hit the giant four-armed monkey and his vicious rhino mount. A flurry of pink sparkles surrounded them and a terrified tiny monkey and a squealing pig ran away into the forest.

As the monk vanquished one opponent, Chibi-Usa took out the remaining foe.


	10. Chapter 10

~10~

Inuyasha sheathed his detransformed sword. As he surveyed the carnage, all the hoard were down and dead or purified piles of ash. Kagome pointed back up the hill, "Oh no, there come some more heading toward Miroku and the girl."

Inuyasha yelled, "Sango, can you cover them?"

Flying closer, she yelled back, "No need. The enemies are down. Miroku got one and the girl the other two." Sango landed next to Miroku. Kagome and Inuyasha ran back up the hill joining them.

"Hey, you changed your clothes," Kagome observed. "You look like Sailor Moon in the anime."

Chibi-Usa laughed and curtseyed. "Sailor Mini Moon at your service." She was amazed that her attack had actually worked on the creatures and happy just to be alive. This was a deadly place and these people were skilled warriors.

Inuyasha complained, "Why didn't you say you could take care of yourself?"

"I told you we fought youma when I got here. How was I to know if these youkai you have here were something like youmas? How would I know if my attacks would work?" Chibi-Usa answered.

Inuyasha had no real answer. He muttered "Keh, let's get a move on. Daylight is wasting and we ain't getting any closer standing around jawing."


	11. Chapter 11

~ 11 ~

The group trudged along the ridgeline path leading downward from the mountain pass. An escarpment jutted out to their left below, not far above the tree line. As they neared they could see a cave mouth in the mountain side. Smoke emerged from a crack above.

Stopping a stone's throw from the cave entrance, they waited while Miroku proceeded alone. A woman emerged from the cave mouth. Swathed in voluminous purple robes, her face was unlined and a long black braid trailed down her back.

"I have been expecting you. Come in and have some tea," she greeted them.

After tea was served and savored, conversation began. Miroku inquired, "We seek aid for our youngest traveler here in returning to her home. We were told the Sorceress of the Winds might be able to assist us."

"I have seen your coming and know your quest. I may be able to assist this one who is not as young as she seems, for a price."


	12. Chapter 12

~ 12 ~

"I do not believe you will find the price too high or my request too difficult," she baited.

"Keh, how could you know we were coming? Ain't nobody out here to tell you," Inuyasha scoffed.

The sorceress laughed. "Come and see, young hanyou, come and see." She stood and gestured toward an opening at the far end of the cave. The group followed the light of her flickering oil lamp down the twisty passageway. Sango grabbed a torch from the wall and brought up the rear. She at least planned to remain on her guard against any tricks the woman might play.

At the far end of the chamber there was a long mirror mounted on the wall. "Here I can see near and far. It only requires a thought."

Chibi-Usa rushed forward and touched the mirror. In quick succession, there were images of Serenity holding court in Crystal Tokyo and Usagi madly dashing toward school.


	13. Chapter 13

~ 13 ~

Kagome commented, "It seems it can view other worlds and times as well as places."

The sorceress smiled, "The mirror shows whatever the one who touches it wishes to see."

Miroku remained troubled, "But does it show the truth?"

With an enigmatic expression, she replied, "Which truth, whose truth? Most anything will be true somewhere."

"Keh, makes no sense," Inuyasha complained, ears flattening. He didn't understand all this mystical stuff.

Chibi-Usa stood back, arms crossed, "Now about that price."

The sorceress answered, "I merely require the return of some magical slippers that were stolen from me. The quest should not be to difficult or dangerous for you, at least no more than the difficulties you have already experienced."

Chibi-Usa swallowed, "All right, as long as it gets me home in the end, I'll run your errand. What do I need to do?"


	14. Chapter 14

~ 14 ~

"Merely focus on your desired destination and step through the mirror," the sorceress gestured toward the now swirling surface of the mirror.

After a round of goodbye hugs and farewells she recited, "I wish to find the slippers belonging to the Sorceress. Take me there." She moved forward and passed through the clouds visible on the mirror's surface. It cleared and reflected back the cavern scene.

Kagome exchanged a worried glance with Sango, "I guess we'll be leaving now.

The sorceress smiled in satisfaction, "Do not fear for the little one. Although her life has many adventures ahead, know that she is on the road toward home."

~ End ~


End file.
